1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to computer displays and graphical user interfaces and more specifically relates to an apparatus and method for highlighting related user interface controls on a user interface.
2. Background Art
Computer systems use a variety of user interface methods to display information and to prompt input from a computer user. These interface methods are often referred to as a user interface. An important aspect of all computer systems is the ease of use and the intuitiveness of the user interface. Most popular computer systems today use a graphical user interface (GUI) on a computer display screen to interact with the computer's user. Many GUI's employ one or more windows that can be opened on the computer's display. A window is a division of a computer display screen, which can be opened, closed, and moved around on the screen by the computer user. A window often includes a menu bar that contains one or more selections available to the user and drop down menus that are activated when an item on the menu bar is selected.
In many GUI's for computer programs, there is a great deal of information, including menus, icons, buttons, and selection boxes displayed in the GUI window. In these complex computer programs, users are increasingly confronted with extremely sophisticated sequences of possible steps that can be selected. Thus, it becomes confusing for the user to readily understand what actions are appropriate at any given time. And even in less complex situations, it is advantageous for the new user to be shown what options are available to make using the software intuitive. Some GUI's change the appearance of tool bars and menu buttons depending on the state of the current operation, the location of the cursor, and the items selected. However, when a computer user selects an item in a computer window in prior art GUIs, it is not readily apparent to the user what actions or user interface options are related to the selected object or available to perform some action on the selected object. Further, when controls are highlighted in the prior art depending on the selected object, they have the same highlighting as other controls that are currently available.
It would be advantageous for a GUI to give more guidance to the user on what options are related to a selected object or will affect a selected object. Without a simpler and more intuitive way to assist computer users to navigate through a user interface, the computer industry will continue to unnecessarily burden the computer users with the complexity of choices available in computer software user interfaces.